With any web site or online business, it is important to change things up a ‘bit every so often.  You don’t want to be seen as becoming stale, or yesterday’s news, so bringing new web site concepts or ideas could be the perfect diversification tool you need to keep people interested in what you do and what you have to offer. There is not a web site out there today that could not be helped by adding one of these four web site service ideas.

Here are four different ways you can branch your web site out:

Blogs – Many people use blogs to extend their web sites.  To keep people coming back several times a day, weekly, monthly or more you need to deliver fresh innovative content.  A blogging script is the perfect give you the perfect delivery tool to make that happen.

Forums or Message Boards – Setting up a forum script will give the fan base that your web site has a place to discuss issues or issues related to your web site.  For example, if I added forums to WebHostingShow.com, they would be for all of you to discuss web hosting and web development issues among yourselves.

Social Sites – It might not be a hosted service, but it is certainly a little something extra you can do to bring more eyeballs in to see your web site.  Look into setting up profiles on Twitter, Facebook and the like to bring mention of your web site outside your own domain.  Use them as a way to socialize with your fan base, and keep them up to date on the latest and greatest things you have to offer.

E-Commerce Scripts – Finally, you have e-commerce scripts (also sometimes called shopping cart scripts).  By adding an e-commerce section to your web site, you will bring in a new way to bring in revenue and sell your unique products and ideas.  Make sure you start off small, and you sell something that is unique to your web site or business.

There are your four different ways you can diversify your own web site or online business to attract new eyeballs, and keep the current eyeballs you have coming back for more content, news, and services.

Get the Podcast! Listen to this article and more on Web Hosting Show, podcast #204!

It is always a good thing when you can share some positive news about web hosts joining web hosts for a good cause.  Hosting for Haiti is all about the biggest and brightest web hosting companies in the world coming together to support the victims of the earthquakes that happened in Haiti last month.

Here is a little ‘bit more about the project from the web site:

Although normally fiercely competitive, as members of the hosting community we know that the power we wield as a group is much more than we can wield individually. And so we’ve come together to help assist those affected by this disaster. With the generosity of all our combined customers, we hope to make a difference. And you can too. One dollar helps. One hundred dollars helps one hundred times more.

Any donations given through the web site go directly to the American Red Cross, and their web site and servers, so you know the donations you give are not going through a third party before they go to those who need it most.

If you are interested in donating, or learning more about this fantastic cause, be sure to check out HostingforHaiti.com.

Twitter makes for a pretty nice way for a web host to get it’s message out to their customers quickly.  You can send a message to everybody that is following you, or you could answer just one person, if needed.  Screenr is the way to get that job done.  You can instantly record a screencast, all with web based software – and share it anywhere.

Quick and Easy Screencast Creator

The thing that makes Screenr so twitter-tastic is that it gives you the ability to login with your Twitter account, and instantly tweet your video tutorial when you are done.  The recorder is powered by Java, so there is no extra tools to have to download either.  Just hit the record button, drag that tool over the space you want to record and your ready to go.

Here is a demo video I created with about five minutes of planning and production time:

As you can see, sometimes you can be helping one person on how to do something – and show many more in exchange.  I am sure there is a metaphor in that statement somewhere having do to with teaching that man how to fish too.  You can try Screenr for free at Screenr.com.  When you do come back and show man what you created.

For any web host out there, having video tutorials showing off your services is a nice thing to promote to your customers.  It is always better to show somebody how to do something, rather than just have them read text.  If you are looking for a low-cost way to create your own simple tutorial collection, look no further than ScreenToaster.

Once you sign up, you can use it from anywhere at any time.  It captures video on the screen with simply one click.  You can record screencasts, tutorials, demos, training and more.  Then you can turn around and embed them on blogs, web pages, or send them via e-mail.

Here is an example video to check out:

It really is a fantastic and free way to create your own video tutorials.  To give it a shot for yourself, or to learn more about how to use it, be sure to check out ScreenToaster.com.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 203!
Running Time: 10 minutes | File Size: 4.30 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

• Create Your Own Video Tutorials – For any web host out there, having video tutorials showing off your services is a nice thing to promote to your customers.  It is always better to show somebody how to do something, rather than just have them read text.  If you are looking for a low-cost way to create your own simple tutorial collection, look no further than ScreenToaster.
• Unlimited Hosting, Fact or Myth? – When you walk into an all you can eat buffet, nobody expects you to eat all the food in the restaurant.  You might fill up your plate three or four times, but you can not eat everything in sight.  The same could be said for unlimited services you might see when it comes to web hosting.
• Web Hosts Helping Haiti Victims -It is always a good thing when you can share some positive news about web hosts joining web hosts for a good cause.  Hosting for Haiti is all about the biggest and brightest web hosting companies in the world coming together to support the victims of the earthquakes that happened in Haiti last month.
• Instant Screencasts for Twitter and Beyond – Twitter makes for a pretty nice way for a web host to get it’s message out to their customers quickly.  You can send a message to everybody that is following you, or you could answer just one person, if needed.  Screenr is the way to get that job done.  You can instantly record a screencast, all with web based software – and share it anywhere.

Quick Tip #4 – The Clippings add-on for Firefox makes for a great way to store your own quick responses for your web hosting customers.

Feel free to send me your web development or hosting questions on the submit a question page, and leave a comment to let me know you listened – and enjoyed this very podcast.

Shameless Plug of the Week – Web Hosting Show Coupons – Looking for a great web hosting deal or steal?  This is the place to check!

A web site visitor should never be confused by your web site’s navigational layout.  Every web page out there should have an easy way to navigate both to new web pages and categories, but also back out of them.  Think of it as reaching a fork in an old country road, choosing to go down the left road – and then turning around and finding a pink hippopotamus in a tutu.  While that might sound ridiculous – many web sites leave visitors with the pink hippo more often than not.

Keep it Clean, Simple and Easily Recognizable

Every web site should start off with a clear, upfront way to navigate from one section to the next.  A web site visitor is not going to stick around long if they can’t find their way around the site.  The web site navigation should be around the top and stick out enough so it does not get lost in your web site’s content.

Don’t Use Crazy Names for Navigation Links

You should also use obvious names for each navigational link.  Don’t use the name “Ice Box” if you want to give a link to your page about yourself.  Instead, use the word, “About” or something to that effect.

Less is More

Keep it simple.  Less really is more when it comes to web site navigation design.  Giving your users too many buttons, links and sub-links right from the start will just lead to confusion.  Rather than link after link, you might consider using a drop down list to give your web site visitors access to pages that fit under that specific category.

Never Leave Your Web Site Visitors Lost

My last ‘bit of web site navigation advice would be to remind people where they are.  Each web page on your web site should be labeled telling the user where they are at.  If they are looking through your list of articles on bugs, then at the top of the page it should say something to the effect of, “Bug Articles”.  Also, always leave your web site with a path back to the front page – just in case they need to start over navigating through your web site.

Now, I want you to investigate your own web site’s navigation.

Is it simple enough to use?

Are you using obvious link and page names?

Are you keeping things nice and simple?

Do you remind people on the page of what they are looking at and where they are?

If you answered, “no” to any of these questions it might be about time you invested some of your time in making your web site navigation better.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #202 of the Web Hosting Show!

Inspiration for a web site’s content is often hard to find.  So when I find myself in trouble, I turn towards my own list of six different content writing ideas that should help inspire you to get that new page up and running.

I would suggest you bookmark this list of content ideas, and save them for a rainy non-creative day.

1. List – A list comes in handy in a number of different ways for a number of different reasons.  Give the the top 10 reasons why this is great.  Give me the top 4 reasons why you shouldn’t do that.  Lists are also easily scan-able, so web site visitors love to check them out.
2. Quote – A great man once said something or another, and you can use that to inspire you as to why what they said was right or wrong.  Often, a quote makes a great way to start a web page’s content section – because it often breaks the ice in an article or web page, giving your reader something to think about.
3. Interview – Do an interview with somebody about something relative to your web site.  I’ve done a number of different interviews on this very podcast, found only at webhostingshow.com.  It is always interesting to hear what somebody else thinks, so reach out to people around you that might be cool to interview on the topic your web site is about.
4. Story – Tell me a story about that one time, you did that one thing, and how it is relative to the web page we are on now.  Story telling is one of the oldest forms of communication we have, so sharing that on your web site is a great way to produce interesting content that people will be sure to read.
5. Tutorial or Definition – When in doubt, show somebody how to do something.  I would say 90% of the time, when people are searching online, they are looking for a tutorial on how to do this, that or the other.  Being the source for that tutorial goes back to the idea of supply and demand.  You want to be the source for the content relative to your topic, and have people come back to learn how to do this, that or the other.
6. Argument – Now you should not fight with your web site visitors.  Rather than fighting, I want you to give an argument why something is good or maybe why something is not so good.  Get creative and passionate about your side, and then give facts to backup your opinion.

So there you have my secret six ideas for content inspiration.  I hope you bookmark this list, save it for later – and when you run into your own web site content writer’s block, you pull it out to help inspire you.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #202 of the Web Hosting Show!

Do your web pages flow?  By flow, I mean can you read through it without asking yourself what is this about again?  If you find yourself stopping and starting when reading your own web pages, take this basic writing advice and try it out on your own web site content.

There are 3 Parts to Any Good Web Page

Everything I know about writing, I learned in grade school.  When writing, you want to break your content up into three parts.

• The Introduction
• The Story
• The Conclusion

How Do You Use These 3 Parts of a Web Page?

In the introduction, you want to introduce what you are talking about, and give a summary of what will be found inside, if the reader chooses to dive any deeper.

The story would be the meat and potatoes of your web page.  There, you talk about what you mentioned in the introduction.

The conclusion should do a quick summary again of what was in the story, and give you one last “sell” on why it was great.

By breaking your web site’s pages into chunks like this, you can help your writing flow better.  After reading the introduction part, I should know what to expect, in the story I get the information, and in the conclusion, I get a summary of what has been covered and why it is important.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #202 of the Web Hosting Show!

The title tag might be a feature many people overlook, but it is just as important as having a nice looking web site layout.  Some might even say it is the most important thing, because it is often the first thing a web site visitors sees.  Today I’ll be telling you what the title tag is and what you can do to make yours better.

What is so Important About the Title Tag?

The title bar is important because it tells your readers what they can expect on that page.  If you are missing a title tag, often the Internet browsers out there just name the actual file name as the title.  If that happens, the title tag is not doing the job of telling the web site visitor what that page is about. Title tags are also used by search engines. The title tag is typically used as the first line of the search result.  Once again, this is another reason why it is important to use a title tag.

How do you Write a Better Title Tag?

Now that we have gone over the importance of a title tag, let me tell you how to write a better one.

Keep the title under 65 characters. This is mainly for search engine optimization reasons, so your last few words or your title don’t get replace with a “…” when showing up on the search engines, like Google.

Use keywords phrases specific to your web site. Now this one might seem overly obvious, but some people still forget it.  Use your most popular keywords that lead people into your site, or that best describe your site in the title tags.

Put your web site name at the end of the title tag. Now some people put the site name at the end, some people put it at the beginning and then some people leave it off, all together.  Unless your site name is keyword rich, like “Best Coupons for Hosting” – I would say bump it to the end of the title.  It helps to identify what page you are on.  Then you can put the web page title before it, such as:

How to Write a Better Title Tag – Web Hosting Show

There you have the page’s name first, and the web site’s name second.  Both are relevant when describing the web page in question so both should be mentioned in the title tag.

Re-use your title tag in your web site too. Your web site’s title should mirror your headline title on the web page you are editing.  This is easy to remember to do with blogs, however it might be overlooked with hand coded HTML web sites.

There you have it.  Those are my own personal tips to help you write a better web site title tag.  Have any other advice or tips to share?  Give me your feedback in the comments.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #202 of the Web Hosting Show!

For remote web hosting technicians, trying to remember what time it is where your business is located can be a pain.  Thankfully, I have an easy to remember bookmark that should save you both trouble and time when it comes to remembering when that next big meeting is for you and for your boss who lives across the country.

The web site to remember, bookmark (or both) is whattimeisitthere.info.  This web site takes care of the time conversions for you.  For example, many of you know I work remotely for Lunarpages, and they are based out of California.  So, with me being in Texas – that is a big shift in time. So, let us say my boss wants to have a meeting at 4:00 PM Pacific time.  All I have to do is pull up this web site, type in “at 4:00pm pacific”. I would then know that the would be 6:00pm central time, which is my own time zone.

For a handy tool to do quick US time zone conversions, go visit whattimeisitthere.info.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #201 of the Web Hosting Show!

Before you claim that I am just overly suspicious of bad thing happening, let me make my case.  What would you do if your web site went down?

You’d contact your web host to find the problem.  Now let us say they lost your web site, and have no active backup.  Well, you could then turn to your own backed up files.

How Should You Backup Your Web Sites

What if your own backup went bad? What would you do then?  Your entire web site, and for some of us that is years of data, would be lost.  So what is the perfect backup solution?

1. Find a web host that does local backups, and make sure you have access to them.
2. Do a backup of your hosting files to your own computer, or to an external hard drive you might have handy.
3. Sign up for an off site backup service. Places like Carbonite.com specialize in offering you unlimited disk space and bandwidth for backing up any files on your computer, including your web site files.  This way you have one more location to get a backed up copy of your web site incase the worst might happen.

Online Backup Providers

Now, I only use Carbonite as an example backup service.  There are many others to choose from, such as:

• Mozy.com
• KeepIt.com
• Amazon.com’s S3 Service

All four of these are great off site backup solutions.

So now that we have a new year, it is time to make one more resolution.  Make sure you backup your backups, because it never hurts to have too many copies, especially right after you lost the one you are looking for.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #201 of the Web Hosting Show!

When it comes to extensions, Firefox is king – with thousands upon thousands to choose from.  However, Google Chrome is just now starting to gain ground with the idea of having an extendable interface, so how many good web development extensions are there for this alternative browser from Google?  I did my search and found five of the best web development related extensions for the browser.

Speed Tracer

Speed Tracer is a tool to help you identify and fix performance problems in your web applications. It visualizes metrics that are taken from low level instrumentation points inside of the browser and analyzes them as your application runs.

Lorem Ipsum Generator

Chrome Extension that generates random dummy text.It uses a minimalist and well looking design. Many other extensions of this type – in other browsers – simply complicate this task, using really extensive code, XHR, etc. The main purpose of this one, is to use the less amount of code (and also memory) and help the developer/user to get the job done.

Kuber PageRank Checker

This handy SEO tool shows you the Google PageRank of web pages beside the address box. If the PageRank of the page in current tab is not available, the tool shows the PageRank of the domain instead, prefixed with ‘S’.

Chrome SEO

The Google Chrome SEO extension provides easy access to Search Engine Optimization Tools that can help you with Competitive Analysis, Keyword Research, Backlink Checks and other daily SEO tasks.

IE Tab

Use Internet Explorer to display web pages in a Chrome tab. Some sites can only be displayed using IE, and with this extension you can now see those sites without leaving Chrome.

Know of any more that I might have missed? Be sure to drop then in via the comments, and help us all learn a little more about the web development tools the Google Chrome browser provides.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #201 of the Web Hosting Show!

Even in web hosting, the new year can often be a great time to start out fresh, get a new look on your online life, and try to make things even better than they are.  That is what this podcast is here to help you with, as long as you promise me one of your resolutions will be to listen to this episode of the Web Hosting Show.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 201!
Running Time: 13 minutes | File Size: 5.58 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

• How to Backup Your Web Site Backups – Speaking of resolutions, everybody should be making the resolution to backup their web site backups.  How can you do so cheaply?  I’ll let you know.
• Easier US Time Zone Conversions – This week I will share with you a tool I use to help me do quick time zone conversions.  It is a great resource for remote web hosting workers.
• Best Audio Hosting Solution for Podcasts – Which method is better, hosting podcasts with your web site or with an external hosting provider?
• 5 Best Web Development Extensions for Google Chrome – With the introduction of extensions to the Google Chrome browser, which plugins do I find most handy for web design or web development work?

Quick Tip #2 – Remember, keep your web site file names and file paths all in lowercase when working on your web site.  Web servers are case sensitive, so better to get yourself using one method from the start, rather than having to do a lot of redirection fixing in the future.

Hope this is the greatest 201st podcast you have ever listened to.  If it is, drop in a comment and let me know or drop me an e-mail at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.  If you want to ask your own question on the podcast, it’s an easy thing to do – just go to the submit a question page, send me your inquest and I will be happy to help on next week’s podcast.

Shameless Plug of the Week – Web Hosting Show on Facebook – Come by and say hello to your fellow Web Hosting Show listeners!

However, many people might still be confused on how to get started with WordPress, so I thought it would be a good idea to go through the steps with you, to make you feel more at home with the process.

How to Install WordPress on Your Hosting Account

The first step would be to download and unzip the WordPress package to your computer.  I often like to put it on my desktop, as I use that as a workspace for all my various projects.

Setup the MySQL Details

Next, you will login to your web hosting control panel and create a MySQL database user, a MySQL database, and then assign that MySQL user to the MySQL database in question.  Various web hosts and various control panels will have different ways to get this done.  My advice would be to check with your web host, if you are unsure how to do so.

Now, open up that WordPress folder you saved earlier, and rename the file wp-config-sample.php to just wp-config.php.  Open the wp-config.php file, and fill in your database details (the database name, user name and the password assigned to the user).

Important: Never use a word processor like Microsoft Word for editing WordPress files! You need to user a simple text editor, such as Notepad.

Upload WordPress to the Hosting Server

After you have saved the wp-config.php file with all the settings it needs to use to connect, it is time to upload the WordPress files to their new home.

• If you want WordPress to show up under your main domain, be sure to upload all of the files into your public_html folder.
• If you want WordPress to show up under a folder (such as /blog/), be sure to upload all the files into a folder located in /public_html/blog/. I’m simply using “blog” as an example.  You could name the folder whatever you want to name it.

Last, but not least, run the WordPress install script by going to yourdomain.com/wp-admin/install.php, or if you installed it into it’s own folder, go to yourdomain.com/blog/wp-admin/install.php. Remember that “yourdomain.com” and “blog” are just examples here, be sure to change them to fit your own web site preferences.

Now simply follow the on-screen instructions and you are all set!  I hope this tutorial comes in handy the next time you install WordPress on your own web hosting space.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #200 of the Web Hosting Show!

Since I now have 200 podcasts under my belt, and with a new year coming up quick, I thought now would be the perfect time to introduce to you my new project.  I want to help you with marketing.

Mitch Does Marketing!

Now, I will not create a new podcast or a blog.  Instead I am going back to my roots, and diving back into producing another book – shades of the long forgotten Lockergnome’s Guide to Web Hosting, which was the inspiration for this podcast four years ago.

So what can you expect? I’m not really sure just yet, other than I am looking to offer to the public at large tutorials, tips and advice on how to market your web site or online business, with as little cost to you as possible.  Think of it as a good ol’ southern boy’s guide to marketing.

As soon as I have more information on the project, I’ll be sure to share it with you here.  I hope it is as successful as my other projects are, and that most of all, you will get plenty of use out of it.

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #200 of the Web Hosting Show!

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 200!
Running Time: 15 minutes | File Size: 6.53 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

• Maximize Work Space with More Browsers – Learn how to simply reorganize your customer support responsibilities, to get more work done in less time.
• How Anybody Can Install WordPress – I am here to help you get WordPress installed for the very first time.  With WordPress 2.9 out this week, figured it would be a good time to reintroduce you to this great content management system.
• Mitch Launches a New Top Secret Project – In celebration of podcast number 200, I wanted you to be the first ones to learn about my new top secret project I have started production on.  Hear it here first!
• How to Turn a Complaint into a Feature - We help Matt take complaints about his free hosting business, and turn those complaints into a brand new feature to his online business.

Starting this episode, I am going to also give you one quick tip on each podcast to help you out with your web hosting ways.  Keep an ear out for them on each podcast from here on out.

Quick Tip #1 – Keep your domain name registrations and web hosting accounts separate.  This way if your business relationship fall through with one, it won’t effect the other.

Do me a favor and help thank our sponsor! Via Twitter, tweet to @LayeredTech thanks for supporting webhostingshow.com

Hope you enjoy the podcast.  If you do, drop in a comment and let me know or drop me an e-mail at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.  If you want to ask your own question on the podcast, it’s an easy thing to do – just go to the submit a question page, send me your inquest and I will be happy to help on next week’s podcast (plus give your web site a free plug!).

My good buddy Barry, from Layered Tech posed an interesting quandary to me the other day.

As someone who works for a major player in hosting, one of the biggest problems I see on a daily basis is people having their server hacked and used for some nefarious purposes such as spam, DOS attacks, and more. There are many ways to combat this costly threat, what is the most cost-effective way for the small to medium-sized business?

It is important for everybody to have a good offense and a good defense when it comes to all the proverbial “natural disasters” that can happen in the web hosting world.  My best advice would be to have a good strategy in place first, so you can prevent the problems from happening in the first place. You have to be proactive, and not reactive.

Now, I know that might be hard to do in a tough economy, cause we are all short on money, time and man power.  If you can keep an eye on a couple of important things, you should have less problems to deal with, and more time to devote to your web site and business.

Here are a few key things everyone should keep in mind:

Monitor your server usage, no matter if you are on a shared hosting plan or a dedicated server.  Check in once a day or once a week to make sure your usage stays on average, and if you see a steady increase, you talk with your hosting provider to make sure you are ready for the time that increase means you need more computing power.

Stay on top of the latest updates for your scripts and plugins. Once a hole is found in a third-party script, it doesn’t take long for holes to be exploited. If you have a script installed, like WordPress or SMF, stay up to date on when it is updated.  The faster you get updates done, the less likely your web site or business will be compromised.

Get help when you need it. For web hosting clients that go down the dedicated or VPS hosting route, find a web hosting partner that will be able to get with you quickly to tackle your problems.  I have often said you can’t judge a web host by the cliché 99.9% uptime guarantee.  A true test of a web host is how they react to a tough situation.  In a shared hosting situation, it might be harder to get the attention needed 100% of the time, due to the fact that you are one in a hundred or more people on a server.  That is one of the drawbacks to the shared hosting world.

Making sure your offense is as good as or better than your defense can solve a lot of problems before they happen.  Small businesses should try to be proactive about problems in the long run, rather than reactive when the going gets tough.

Big thanks to Barry from Layered Tech for such an awesome question.  Be sure to check them out at LayeredTech.com and give them a big thank you for being the number one supporters and sponsors of the Web Hosting Show podcast.  If you have a web hosting or development question, give me your name, URL and question over on the submit a question page and I will be more than happy to help!

Like This Article? Listen to it and more like it on podcast #199 of the Web Hosting Show!

Yes, it is really that simple!  Here is what I want you to do right now.

1. Visit the new “Submit a Question” page
2. Give me your name (first name is fine), web site address (if you have one), and question about web hosting, marketing, search engine optimization or anything else web site related
3. Hit the “Submit” button

That is it.  Simple right?  Oh, it gets even better!

Once you have done so, I will get your question, mention you on a future Web Hosting Show podcast, and answer the question along with giving you a plug for your web site on the web hosting industry’s number one web hosting podcast.  How can you beat a deal like that?

With podcasts #199 and #200 coming up pretty quickly (both will be delivered this month!) I hope to be able to answer a lot of questions, and help you get your web site “out there” by mentioning it on the show, and linking to it off the site here. Web hosts, web hosting clients or people who don’t even have a web site are welcome.  This new feature to show is something I want to open up to everybody out there.

Help me help you, and get your questions of any shape, size of form submitted today!

Find Files and Folders that Do Not Belong

Remember that old childhood game of figuring out, which one of these does not belong with the others?

Search through your web site files and folders to make sure that you don’t have anything that is strange or alien in there.  Look for files that are not apart of scripts you have installed, or that may have odd names.  Your web host will be able to tell you what files are safe to delete and which files are an important part of your web hosting account.

Try to view the source code of your web pages too, and look for anything that does not look familiar or is related to the problems you are having.  For example, many iframe injection attacks will attach the iframe code to the bottom of your web site files.

Make Sure Your Permissions are in Check

You should also check to make sure your file and folder permissions are in check.  Folders should be set no higher than 755, and files should be set to 644. You can check or change folder and file permissions through your web host’s file manager or through most modern FTP programs.

Now, for those of you who say this sounds like a lot of busy work, I have a special tip to share.  If you have a recent backup of your hosting account files, you can compare it with the files and folders on your hosting account to see which ones do not match up.  Also, depending on when your web site was infected, your web host may be able to restore your web site from and older back they have too.

How to Scan Your Personal Computers

You might think that time is of the essence, however it will do you no good if you rush to fix your web site, if you are the one infecting it.  You need to run a combination of a anti-malware and anti-virus on your computer to make sure you are not the source of your problem.  I would recommend scanning your PC like this:

• Scan Your PC with an Anti-Malware Program
• Scan Your PC with an Anti-Virus Program
• Scan Your PC with an Online Anti-Virus Program

You could use a number of different anti-malware programs however I wouldn’t recommend installing more than one anti-virus program.  You get your second opinion there with the online anti-virus service.

Here are some great free anti-malware and anti-virus solutions:

• AVG Free (free anti-virus scanner)
• Trend Micro Housecall (free online anti-virus scanner)
• Avast Home Edition (free anti-virus scanner)
• Panda ActiveScan (free online anti-virus scanner)
• Spybot Search and Destroy (free anti-malware scanner)
• AdAware Free (free anti-malware scanner)
• Microsoft Windows Defender (free anti-malware scanner)

There are others out there, this should help you get started finding the best combination of scanners for you though. Another important tip to mention is that you need to scan each computer that has had contact with that web site, either by visit or because you used it to work on your web site.

Just like you lock your door at night to prevent somebody breaking in and stealing all your stuff, you need to make sure your web site is kept as secure as possible so you do not have these problems in the future.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 197!
Running Time: 11 minutes | File Size: 5.14 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

• Web Site Hacked? Scan Yourself First!
• Be Proactive About Password Theft
• Update or Remove Out of Date Scripts
• Fixing Files and Folders After a Web Site Hack

Here is this week’s web hosting news headline:
Web Host Boot Camp 2009 – Another Web Host Boot Camp is coming up.  December 7th through December 9th, attendees, exhibitors, sponsors and guests will come together for three days to discuss, learn, share tips and techniques and much more.

FastServers.net is Now LayeredTech – I would also like to welcome the Web Hosting Show’s new supporter and sponsor, LayeredTech.com.  LayeredTech specializes in enterprise, cloud, and dedicated server hosting.  I look forward to having as good of a relationship with them as we had with FastServers.net.

From iframe injections, to virus or trojan installs, we all need to make sure we are prepared for the worst, or at least know what to do when the worst might happen.  That is what today’s show is all about.  I hope you enjoy, and if you have any other web site security tips to share, be sure to leave them in the comments!

At its core this means that the provisioning of space, bandwidth and power is controlled by a third-party data center.  They do not control it all though.  Most of the time, the web host who is using the third-party’s data center services will need to provide the management for the hardware or servers they are running from there.

To try to make sense of this, lets say I want to start a store.  I go rent a building downtown that has all the shelves, cash registers, and shopping carts – however I have to stock the store myself and, of course, figure out a way to bring the customers in the door.  Instead of spending money on buying the store and some of the basic necessities, I get to rent them – in turn bringing my overall costs down.

So, with it explained like that – where is the evil in it?

Well, many web hosting elite look down upon this practice because it is a money saving practice.  It lowers the proverbial bar on the point of entry somebody has to become a web host too.

Since building a data center from the ground up is a very expensive and time consuming act, I see no problem in getting your hosting through collocation.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 194!
Running Time: 10 minutes | File Size: 4.80 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

• What is FTP and how do you use it?
• A great domain scoring web site resource!
• What is so bad about collocation hosting?
• How to take better web site screenshots!

Here is this week’s web hosting news headline:
Brinkster Launches URL Shortener – Web hosting provider Brinkster announced this week that it has launched a new URL shortening service it is calling br.st!, throwing its hat into an already quite well-served market associated with several of the most popular social networking services.

Bonus! Check out br.st and see if it is better than the rest!

Trivia Question – True or false, Brinkster’s CEO Jared Stauffer is on Twitter.  (to find out the answer, be sure to download and listen to this week’s podcast!)

Tons of fun and useful tools packed into this week’s show.  Don’t forget to leave your feedback in the comments or contact me anytime at mitch@mitchkeeler.com.  Also, if your like what you hear, and you want to get more subscribe to our RSS feed (it is free to do!) so you never miss another post, interview or podcast!

WordPress is probably one of, if not “the” most popular blogging script out there.  One of the things that makes it so great is the wide variety of plugins you can install to extend it’s usability.  So how do you install a WordPress plugin? Why, I am happy you asked.

First thing you need to do is to download the plugin, from the plugin’s official site, or from a directory like WordPress’s Plugin Directory site.  Once that has been done, you see it often comes in a .zip compressed folder.  You need to un-compress it using your favorite file unzipper – to it’s own folder.  Now you have the folder for the plugin setting on your desktop.  What is next?

Next, you will want to start up your favorite FTP program and upload the folder to this directory:

/wp-content/plugins/

Each plugin should have it’s own folder, so since your plugin you want to install is already in a folder just upload the entire folder to the folder named “plugins” within your wp-content folder.

Now, login to your WordPress administrator interface and click on the Plugins link in the left-side menu.  Scroll down the list till you see the plugin you just installed, and click the the link labeled “Activate” in the box for the plugin.

Simply follow the on screen instructions after that, and your new plugin should be up and running.  Often plugins have additional features you need or can setup and customize, so check the plugin’s documentation for that information.

The .htaccess file is a way to make a change to the configurations of your hosting account for each directory.  For example, once you put a .htacess file in your public_html folder, on a Linux based hosting account, it will set the rules for that folder and all the folders created in it.

Here is everything you need to know…

Step 1 – Open up a text editor (such as Notepad or cPanel’s File Manager) and add in the lines you need and save the file.

Step 2 – Using the cPanel’s File Manager or your FTP client you will need to upload the file to the location you need it. This is usually inside of your public_html folder.

Step 3 – Rename the file to .htaccess, and save. It should be noted that .htaccess is the file extension. It is not filename.htaccess or yourpage.htaccess, it is just named .htaccess.

Truth be told, you really don’t need to know what the .haccess file is, as long as you can find the right snipits of code or “recipes” in it to get the job done.  At least now you know how to create it… and knowing is half the battle.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 192!
Running Time: 12 minutes | File Size: 5.29 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

• Was I Snubbed by HostingCon?
• How Should Web Hosts Adapt to the Social Web?
• How to Create a .htaccess File
• How to Install a WordPress Plugin
• Dead Body Pose Bring Stress Relief to Web Hosting Workers
• Why I Don’t Do Web Hosting Reviews!

Here is this week’s web hosting news headline:
HostingCon Kicks Off – Media company iNET Interactive will host HostingCon 2009, the premier conference and trade show, at Washington, D.C.’s Gaylord National Resort on August 10 to 12.

Trivia Question – True or false, Tucows started in 1993? (to find out the answer, be sure to download and listen to this week’s podcast!)

Hope you enjoy this week’s podcast, and check out the archives where you are sure to find many more.  Also, if you have any feedback, comments or complaints – you can contact me at here.  Enjoy the show, and share it with your friends!

Should you host your own videos, or should you turn towards some of the free video hosting services out there to do it for you?  This is an internal battle going on with many web hosting providers out there – and I’m going to tell you why the second choice might be the better one for you.

Video Sharing, Converting and Playing are All Server Killers

The number one reason why you should not host your own videos, is simply put in two words, server resources.  By outsourcing this task to a place like YouTube, Revver, and other online video sharing services, you take the load video hosting and distributing takes on a server.  For those of you using shared hosting services, this is particularly important, because you want to keep your resource usage as low as possible.

Open Your Videos Up to a Wider Audience, to Gain More Eyeballs

My second reason for saying you should not host your own video content is for marketing reasons.  Stop and think for a minute, who gets more traffic – you or YouTube?  YouTube would be the obvious answer to many.  Now, how could you turn that to your advantage?

• Publish videos people are looking for
• Make sure to include your brand name and domain name

Now you are creating one more way for people who might be randomly surfing for content via YouTube (or any other video sharing service out there) to find your videos, and your web site.

If you have the resources to host your own videos, because you do not fear the server resource issue, chances are you don’t need to market yourself using these means.  However, for us small guys and gals in the wild and wacky world of web hosting, we need every advantage we can take – and this is one free service available to you worth taking advantage of.

Download the Web Hosting Show, Episode 191!
Running Time: 15 minutes | File Size: 6.53 MB

Here are just a few topics from this week’s episode:

• Using Proxy Sites to Troubleshoot Web Site Downtime
• At Least One Mention of Burt Reynolds
• 5 Common HTTP Errors (to watch out for)
• Why You Should Not Host Your Own Videos
• Forgotten Negatives about Cloud Hosting

Here is this week’s web hosting news headline:
4th Annual cPanel Conference Coming Soon! -The 4th Annual cPanel Conference will take place this year October 5th, 6th and 7th. This conference is designed to help your hosting business maximize profitability, achieve total automation, and exponentially expand your knowledge base. (Got to toss my plug in for my fellow Texans at cPanel)

Trivia Question – Which big Texas city does cPanel call home? (to find out the answer, be sure to download and listen to this week’s podcast!)

Thank you for checking out, listening to or listening to the show this week.  Please be sure to comment and leave your thoughts and feedback about today’s show.  Also, be sure to watch the web site throughout the next two weeks as we post more about what was mentioned on today’s broadcast.

Web Hosting Questions for You

Before you go shopping for your first, next or any type of web hosting plan, you should be ready to answer these questions:

• What type of web site do you want to host?
• Are you going to need any special server side technology?
• Have you ever gotten in trouble for using too many “server resources” (usually RAM or CPU)

Web Hosting Questions for Your Future Web Host

As far as questions that you should ask, I would make sure that you at least ask them these questions.

• What is the price/time period ratio? (sometimes you can get a better deal if you sign up for a longer time)
• Do you have any example web sites or server speed tests?
• Can you handle my needs (be sure to give a full list of what you would want to install or need)
• How can I reach and how responsive is the support team?
• How long is your money back guarantee? (if they have one)

Now, your own list of questions might vary depending on what type of web site you want to host and how complex it will be.

These are just two popular examples of hosting from the clouds.

With cloud hosting you say goodbye to the old idea of renting a server or shared server space.  In its place, cloud hosting provides us with server clustering.  Instead of using the power of one server, you have access to the power of many; linked together through visualization.

An Example of Where Cloud Hosting is Needed

We have all seen the situations where a web site might be under stress because it has had a sudden burst of popularity.  With regular shared hosting we have today – once that web site reaches the limits of the single server it is on, it chokes.  Now with a cloud hosting setup, you would have access to a number of different servers so the web site under stress could still have access to as much bandwidth, RAM, CPU power or any other server side resource that it needed.

Cloud hosting provides computing power, on demand, when you need it.  If you no longer need so much power, you can easily release the resources back into the proverbial “cloud” so that they can be used by others.

Three Reasons Why Cloud Hosting is Good for You

The most important thing to remember is that hardware is no longer your main focus with cloud hosting.  You new main focus is your web site.  Cloud hosting is easy to scale to meet your demand.  Cloud hosting provides computing power when you need it.  Cloud hosting only requires you to pay for what you use.